Nintendo Confirms Switch 2 Uses DLSS and Ray Tracing, but Is Being Super Vague About the Details

Nintendo has confirmed the Switch 2 uses DLSS and ray tracing technology, but has yet to go into detail on how exactly, or show them off.

Nvidia DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) is an AI-powered technology that uses machine learning to upscale lower-resolution images in real-time, enhancing both performance and image quality in games.

This week’s hour-long Nintendo Direct revealed much about the $449.99 Switch 2, but Nintendo has kept technical information to a minimum. Even in the official Nintendo Switch 2 tech specs there is only confirmation that the console uses a “custom processor” made by Nvidia, and no more detail.

In a hardware-focused roundtable Q&A in New York yesterday, attended by IGN, Nintendo representatives confirmed the Switch 2 uses DLSS, but did not specify which version of the tech, or whether it had been customized for Switch 2.

Takuhiro Dohta, senior director of the Programming Management Group Entertainment Planning & Development Department, at Nintendo’s Entertainment Planning & Development Division, confirmed:

“We use DLSS upscaling technology and that’s something that we need to use as we develop games.

“And when it comes to the hardware, it is able to output to a TV at a max of 4K. Whether the software developer is going to use that as a native resolution or get it to upscale is something that the software developer can choose. I think it opens up a lot of options for the software developer to choose from.”

It was a similarly vague response when Dohta confirmed the Switch 2’s GPU is capable of ray tracing. “Yes the GPU does support ray tracing,” he said. “As with DLSS, I believe this provides yet another option for the software developer to use and a tool for them.”

And what about the GPU itself? Tetsuya Sasaki, General Manager at Nintendo’s Technology Development Division, and Senior Director at its Technology Development Department, chimed in to say Nintendo prefers not to get in the weeds on things like the GPU.

“Nintendo doesn’t share too much on the hardware spec,” he said. “What we really like to focus on is the value that we can provide to our consumers. But I do believe that our partner Nvidia will be sharing some information.”

In January, the internet spotted a patent, filed July 2023 but published for the first time earlier this year, that describes AI image upscaling technology that would help keep video game download sizes small enough to fit on a physical game cartridge while offering up to 4K textures. The patent describes technology similar to Nvidia’s DLSS, or PlayStation 5 Pro‘s PSSR, to upscale images using AI.

For more, check out everything announced at the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct, and what the experts have to say about the Switch 2 price and Mario Kart World’s $80 price tag.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.